A consistent Arkansas squad edged Bama at home. Bama suffered three breaks on the BB to post a 48.325 on the event. Arkansas was led by Amada Wellick, who tied for the VT title with Bama's Nickie Guerrero and the AA with Bama's Lauren Beers at 38.95. Bama swept the top six spots on UB, led by Kiana Winston. On BB, Aja Sims posted a 9.95 for the Crimson Tide victory, but three breaks proved costly. Bama's Amanda Jetter won the FX.
Link: Bama Release
Host Ithaca defeated Brockport State, using a big advantage on BB for the win. The Bombers picked up wins from Valerie Cohen on VT, Kendra Balcerak on BB, and Carolyn Nichols on FX. For Brockport, Caitlin Elsadek won the UB.
Link: Release
Francesca Lawal from Elite Gymnastics in Florida has committed to UCLA. She competed at Level 9 last season. She placed 2nd AA at her state meet and 2nd AA (1st FX) at her regional meet. She went on to win the all around and vault titles at L9 Easterns.
Gustavus Adolphus posted its highest score since 2004 as they defeated Winona State on Tuesday night. Alex Kopp led the way, winning VT, FX and tying for the BB title (with Winona State's Eboni Jackson) en route to a 37.15 AA win. Winona State's Katie Pipp led a 1 to 4 sweep of the UB but Gustavus built a big advantage on the BB for the win.
Link: Release
The season is well underway and we're already seeing some trends, early leaders, and stars begin to emerge. Here's a few observations on the season thus far...
Grace Arnold has committed to Gustavus Adolphus. Last season she won her L9 state meet and placed 1st on bars and beam. She recently placed 6thAA at the Elevate the Stage meet.
Washington's Allison Northey posted a 39.175 to win her second AA of the season and lead UW to an easy win over ASU. She also tied for the UB title with teammate Kaitlyn Duranczyk and on BB with teammate Joslyn Goings. For ASU, Taylor Allex won VT and FX.
Link: UW Release
Florida tops the Women's National Rankings for the week of January 18th, with a 197.25 average, as compiled by RoadToNationals. OU is 2nd and Michigan 3rd. The rankings remain highly volatile at this point in the season.
Denver just missed the 196 mark but it was enough to easily down the host Hawkeyes. DU was led again by Nina McGee, who won the AA with a 39.425, including a win on VT and a tie for first on FX (with Iowa's Mollie Drenth). Teammate Julia Ross won the UB and BB to further boost the Pioneers.
Link: Iowa Release
Stanford capitalized on UGA's collapse on BB to take the win. Stanford's Elizabeth Price led the way, posting a 39.425 to take the AA. Teammates Ivana Hong and Melissa Chuang tied for the BB title. For UGA, Brandie Jay posted a near-perfect 9.975 to win the VT. Classmate Brittany Rogers won the UB with a 9.925. On FX, Gigi Marino and Mary Beth Box led the Gym Dogs with 9.9 and the event win.
Link: UGA Release
Michelle Sandoval, L10 at Fuzion Gymnastics, has committed to BYU. Last season she competed to a 3rd place AA finish at her state meet and her season seemingly ended there. She recently competed two events at the Texas Prime meet, finishing 4th on beam.
Bailey Lovett, L10 at High Point Gymnastics, has committed to Arkansas. Last season she won her regional meet and finished 31st AA at JOs. She recently competed at the Atlanta Crown and placed 3rd AA.
Illinois won the Windy City Invitational with a score of 425.95. Ohio State was just behind at 425.7, with Minnesota just behind at 424.5. Iowa was 4th at 419.65, Michigan 5th at 413.7 and UIC was 6th at 378.45. Illini Brandon Ngai won the PH, the only event winner for Illinois. Minnesota's Zach Liebler won the FX while teammate Tristan Duran. For Ohio State, Sean Melton won Rings, VT, and PB and Tristan Burke won the AA with an 86.0.
Link: UIC Release
Keeley Kmieciak posted a 39.4 in the AA to lead the Sooners to the win over the host GymBacks. Teammate AJ Jackson won VT, while Chayse Capps took the BB. Sooner Haley Scaman won the FX, while teammate McKenzie Wofford tied with Arkansas' Paige Zaziski for the UB title.
Link: OU Release
Alabama defeated cross-state rival AU in the "Elevate the Stage" meet. Mackenzie Brannam led Bama, tying for titles on VT and FX. She tied on VT with AU's Lexus Demers and and on FX with teammates Angelina Giancroce and Katie Bailey. Teammate Lauren Beers won BB. Bama's Keely McNeer and Kiana Winston tied with AU's Caitlin Atkinson for the UB title. Atkinson won the AA with a 39.375.
Link: AU Release
WVU's Alexa Goldberg won the UB and FX en route to a winning 39.225 AA total as WVU knocked off UNH. Frosh teammate Kirah Koshinski took the VT. UNH's Casey Lauter won the BB.
Link: WVU Release